By Carol Davis
SOLANA BEACH, California—Mr. Green (Robert Grossman) is an 86-year-old widower who clings to his Jewish values and beliefs. He is angry, unpleasant, stubborn, worn out and alone. He and his wife Yetta were married 59 years. “We almost made it to sixty and never had and argument”. But she died a few months before we meet him and now he’s on his own and not coping.
He barely eats. His place is a cluttered mess scattered with newspapers, phone books piled everywhere even though his phone is not operable, and unopened mail. Dead flowers are still in the small vase on an end table in his unkempt and dark living room where he keeps the drapes drawn keeping out the light of day. (Marty Burnett is at it again with a very workable and appropriate looking set complemented by Matt Novotny’s lighting design)
Visiting Mr. Green, by Jeff Baron is a complex little gem of a comedy/ drama now in a moving and funny, yet tender and gripping production at the North Coast Repertory Theatre under the direction of Christopher M. Williams. In it an uneasy yet moving friendship/ alliance develops between a despondent old man and a young business executive brought together by a quirky accident that happened when Mr. Green stepped out in front of Ross Gardiner’s car (Craig De Lorenzo) and was knocked down.
Ross, 29 is sentenced to community service for driving recklessly. He is ordered to spend the next six months visiting Mr. Green and helping him out in any way possible. If this sounds simple and cut and dry, it is anything but. It might also look to be contrived, but to many it’s b’ shert meant to be, or better yet just a small nosh of reality for those who love chicken soup for the lonely at heart!
Baron’s play takes place in nine short scenes. When Mr. Green first meets Ross he keeps asking Ross. “Who are you, how do you know my name?” and then implores Gardiner to stay away, “Tell the judge I don’t need any help.” After the judge refuses to change his sentence Ross bribes Mr. Green with food. When Mr. Green all but throws him out of the house with the food because his house is strictly kosher, Ross assures him that the ‘take home’ is kosher Chicken Soup from Fine & Schapiro. After a few more visits, with chicken soup in hand, Mr. Green reluctantly opens up to Ross and starts talking about his late wife Yetta.
In a turn about, Ross shares with Mr. Green that he is Jewish and to that, Green asks, “Are you sure you are Jewish?” Ross replies, “Well I don’t remember my bris…” But when he tells him that he is also gay, a concept Green can’t seem to fathom, ‘you mean a faygelah?’ he orders him out of his house once again, telling him it’s contrary to God’s will. Ross shoots back that just as Jews were rejected for being Jewish, he’s being hated for something he can’t change. And furthermore did he really think God really wanted him to be alone?
Ross also admits that his relationship with his ‘big shot high priced New York lawyer father is a sham. Ross then discovers that Mr. Green has a daughter that he declared dead and sat Shiva for because she married outside the religion, something that ate away at Yetta. He tells Mr. Green that his father humiliated him in front of his friends at a dinner gathering and that his father completely rejects him for it.
As the layers of each man’s secrets are peeled away and we learn more and more we too begin to look deeper at the underlying reasons for their behaviors and understand who they are and why they do what they do. Both men convince, but it is the steady, composed and accomplished performance of Grossman’s Mr. Green that has us attuned to his character changes, oddities, subtleties and mannerisms, not to mention his impeccable comic timing.
In contrast, DeLorenzo’s Ross is a perfect foil, in the beginning, letting Green bounce his deadpan retorts off him like a ping-pong ball. “Who let you in?” “The door was open. I knocked first. Twice. I really did. I wouldn’t just walk in”. “You wouldn’t? You just did”.
But De Lorenzo’s Ross is no push over as Mr. Green later learns as the turn around in his character subtly becomes evident and they both find that the bonds they built over the months are worthy of saving and keeping. De Lorenzo’s character develops a maturity and understanding that dealing with seniors does inspire and impose. He is open to a deeper emotional well after they seem on an equal footing.
At the outset, Visiting Mr. Green looks like a sit-com. But in reality Baron’s short play gives us a multi-layered look into how two men from opposite ends of a generational spectrum can affect one another, can bring renewed life to one another and finally can bring acceptance where there was judgment. One is very religious, critical and not open to change. The other is marginally Jewish and locked up inside because of his sexual orientation but with roots that reach to his traditional core. How they affect each other “in the Jewish world of this play” and renew each other’s faith is profound, heartwarming and bittersweet.
And yes, chicken soup is still the universal healer.
See you at the theatre.
Dates: through March 18th
Organization: North Coast Repertory Theatre
Phone: 858-481-1055
Production Type: Drama
Where: 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Suite D, Solana Beach, CA 92075
Ticket Prices: $32.00-$49.00
Web: northcoastrep.org
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Davis iss a San Diego-based theatre critic. She may be contacted at carol.davis@sdjewishworld.com